Leave the Gun Take the (paulie) Cannoli

Scumbag Arpaio

He sounds like a real asshole. It’s a shame that he has to treat human beings that way, given the fact that over half, if not two thirds, of inmates in prison (sic) are really only innocent political prisoners (sent there due to the government’s insane drug prohibition policies, for one major example). I’d like to release all those who aren’t in jail for real crimes and replace them with those of the political elite ruling class, such as presidents, legislators, judges, cops, bureaucrats. THEN this sheriff can go on and proceed to mistreat all he wants! (except that I’d probably want to turn the tables and put HIM inside too!) – Gary

If all our prisons and jails was run like this one, we would have less
inmates. Crime would be at an all time low.

Carleton

This guy must have to wear a bulletproof vest to bed at night!!!

FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO,

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER.

These are some of the reasons why:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Maricopa County, Arizona) created the
“tent city jail”

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the
Inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails.

He took away their weights and cut off all but “G” movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on
County and city projects.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn’t get
Sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal
Court order that required cable TV for jails. So he hooked
Up the cable TV again but only let in the Disney channel
And the weather channel.

When asked why the weather channel he replied, “So they’ll
Know how hot it’s gonna be while they’re working on my
Chain gangs.”

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value and when the
Inmates complained, he told them, “This isn’t the Ritz-Carlton.
If you don’t like it, don’t come back.”

He bought Newt Gingrich’s lecture series on videotape that he pipes
Into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture
Series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture
Series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails
In the first place.

More on the Arizona Sheriff:

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116
Degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports:

About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent
Encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given
Permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer
Shorts. On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were
Either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents. The
Inside temperature of these tents reached 138 degrees the
Week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as
Sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.

“It feels like we are in a furnace,” said James Zanzot, an inmate
Who has lived in the tents for 1 year so far. “It’s inhumane.”

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and
Long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna
Sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that
He told the inmates: “It’s 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are
Living in tents too and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn’t
Commit any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!”

Way to go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one there
Might well be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals
Should be punished for their crimes… Not live in luxury until it’s time
For their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can
Get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers
Can’t afford to have for themselves.

5 Responses

The Arizona Department of Corrections lists roughly 68% of the prisoners are there for “property crimes” and offenses “against persons”.

As for Maricopa County Jails, however, it is estimated that 80% of the current population “are incarcerated for drugs or drug-related crimes”, though it doesn’t state the source of the estimate or the definition of a “drug-related” crime.

I agree that the War on Drugs™ is ridiculous, but when you have ~18% of the AZ prison population behind bars directly due to drug possession or drug dealing, it’s a stretch to turn that into 50-75%. Check the figures. They’re quite clear as to the offenses:

And you’re probably right, there could be many violent and property crimes in/directly attributable to the War on Drugs™, but it’s anyone’s fuzzy guess as to the real numbers. But even if all of the robbery & thefts are considered (hypothetically) directly caused by the Drug War™, the total only goes up to 38%.

The mentally ill issue is another problem entirely, and one that the officials in AZ are well aware of, from what I’ve read.

Somehow I managed to lose site of the point I wanted to make in my first post: the “tent-city” sheriff is a PR stunt, in my opinion.

It holds a small percentage of the prison population and I’ve seen numerous quotes from prisoners there that indicate they love the fact that they’re outdoors and can work. :|

They’ve managed to find a system that was cheap to produce and maintain, but it hasn’t/isn’t solving their overall problem of county jail overcrowding.

Some of that overcrowding is due to Drug War™ casualties, but a nontrivial portion stems from people who are either temporarily housed until their court date or temporarily housed en route to another prison.

Maricopa County, AZ isn’t the only place facing problems like this, but as the county with the nation’s 4th largest inmate population, they stick out as an example.

Well, certainly it’s hard to break down the indirect drug related crime exactly, but in my experience it’s a very high percent.

Also, many of the people incarcerated for serious and real offenses are not the people who really did the crime. They got picked up because they were the “usual suspects” (IE had a record, usually starting with petty directly or indirectly drug related issues) and usually had shitty lawyers and zealous prosecutors.

I do believe the percentage of drug and petty offenses is a lot higher in the county jails than in the penitentiaries, as well.

Even if we assume that most of the people convicted of violent and property crimes were not drug related and were in fact the people who commited those crimes, how much of that stems from a social environment of petty crime, broken homes, separated families, foster housing and group home situations, etc., which has a lot of its roots in the drug war?

It’s a complex social problem, but I do believe the drug war has a lot to do with it. As does the cop/prosecutor mindset of “scoring victories” regardless of the truth, and “guilty until proven innocent” is more and more the de facto norm.

The vast majority of arrests are discretionary, and most cases are plea bargained after charges are piled on regardless of the truth of the matter –
after having been in the system it is hard to stay out. Probation, parole, difficulties in getting “straight” jobs, association restrictions, and even post-release prohibition on weapons ownership for self-protection are all set up to lead to a revolving-door system, which craetes lots of profits and job security in the police-prison-industrial complex.

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